‘What! How come?’
In a shaky voice, she told him the whole sorry story of how her colleagues had been sent home from their jobs, and most likely wouldn’t return, having been found to have stocked numerous books that went against parental tastes, and when they all flatly refused to participate in submitting the library’s future acquisitions for the approval of a hastily thrown-together committee of concerned parents, ‘things had got real crazy, real quick.’
‘But you love that job,’ Harri said.
‘I know. We were family. But what do you do when the community turns against you, and suddenly you’re not the cornerstone of your school anymore? You’re just a dangerous snowflake pushing your own agenda?’
‘Jeez! What exactly did you do?’
‘Nothing!’
‘I mean what books were you giving these kids?’
‘I dunno, most of the ones they objected to were written by or are about LGBTQIA plus folks or by Black and Indigenous people and people of colour. They’re well-written books with some great representation, as far as we were concerned.’
Harri nodded along. ‘I’ve seen this on the telly. Parents trying to ban books in schools.’
‘Yep, happening more and more. In some places they have the law on their side, and they can whip up pretty nasty campaigns about a person.’
Harri shifted closer. ‘Is that what they did to you?’
Annie nodded. ‘To us, all the staff. It was constant. There were emails, letters sent to school… one mom even came to our houses with a petition she’d made. They were saying awful things about us. Obviously, none of them were true. We were just curating a library of books relevant for our kids.’
‘So, what are you going to do?’
‘Do?’ She shrugged. ‘I could appeal. Argue that I was wrongfully suspended. Argue that even if you don’t want to read a book it doesn’t mean you have the right to stop other folks reading it. I could take it to the Library Association… but…’ Annie’s shoulders slumped and her words turned into a hard sigh.
‘But?’ Harri coaxed.
‘But without Mom and Dad supporting me, and without Cassidy, it didn’t seem possible somehow. And I was tired and scared. And I’ve seen what happens to some of the librarians who fight back. They get crushed. Their faces all over the news. I guess it’s hard for you to get it, when it’s not really happening in the UK. Not yet anyways.’
Harri’s heart cracked. ‘What about your colleagues in the library?’
‘I haven’t heard from them. We were told to go home and not to try organising anything.’
‘So who’s running the library?’
Annie raised an eyebrow.
‘Ah! Right. Some parents? But they’re not trained librarians. What do they know?’
‘They know plenty, apparently.’
Harri watched her drinking from the bottle, weighing up if he could ask what was on his mind. He risked it. ‘Why didn’t you say anything when it was all kicking off? I could have helped?’
‘Could you?’
‘I mean, not with the school and the parents, but I could have helped you, I could have carried a bit of this worry for you.’
Annie didn’t say anything at first, only taking another drink. Distantly, out on the roadside, Harri registered car doors shutting sharply.
‘I didn’t want to admit I was losing,’ Annie went on. ‘I’m supposed to be Annie Luna, the gutsy one. I’m supposed to be brilliant. And I was scared, and I was embarrassed, actually. Yeah, embarrassed, and I was ashamed. It felt like my own community thought I was some creep, pushing inappropriate books at kids, but they were just books,kids’ books!’ Tears rushed out as fast as her words.
‘Oh my god.’ Harri shifted to her side and threw his arms around her.
‘Youarethe gutsy one!’ Harri said, his head against hers. ‘You’re Annie Luna! School Librarian extraordinaire! I’ve always been so proud to know you.’
This made her sniff back her tears and she managed a little laugh followed by a sorry groan. ‘I really miss the kids,’ she said, her eyes sadder than Harri had ever seen them.
